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Written by Everett J. Bassett
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Sunday, 10 September 2006 |
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Philippians 4: 4-9 Five years ago tomorrow, Sargeant John McLoughlin led a group of Port Authority police officers in response to a call related to a major emergency at the World Trade Center. As the men approached the scene, it began to dawn on them that something unprecedented had happened, and that they would be asked to undertake a dangerous mission. Sargeant McLoughlin asked for volunteers, and a small team stepped forward. With scarcely an idea what was happening, the team entered World Trade Tower One.
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Keeping Faith in This World God Loves |
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Written by Everett J. Bassett
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Sunday, 03 September 2006 |
Matthew 13: 31-35, 44-53
Today's sermon is the last in a series I've been doing all summer entitled, "Keeping the Faith in a Challenging World. They have been based on Jesus' teachings in Matthew, chapters 11-13, and as I looked back over them, I realized that they paint a picture of a rather unbeautiful world. One last time, here is the list of challenges Jesus talks about: Keeping the Faith in a violent world, a critical world, a tired world, a legalistic world, a skeptical world, a gothic world, a belittling world, a competing world, and, finally, a sabotaging world. All these things, and more, are in the arsenal the world throws at us, trying to undermine the faith that we cling to. After such a list, we might ask ourselves, "Why try? Why keep trying to bring a Christian message to a world that just wants to throw obstacle after obstacle in the way?" I suppose many people would dream up many answers to that question, but for me they all come down to one life-forming truth: Because of God. Because of the One who made us, and the One who will not give up on us. As messed up as the world can be, and us as part of it - as long and painful as the list of shortcomings in this world could grow - this is the world God loves. And so we can't give up on it. That is love. To look at a world that is so often plain, so often ordinary, so often wearing the dark stains of sin and corruption - and to love the hidden beauty - to see potential when we can't - to love unconditionally and completely.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 February 2007 )
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Keeping Faith in a Sabotaging World |
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Written by Everett J. Bassett
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Sunday, 27 August 2006 |
Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43
In 1854, the people of London were deathly and rightfully afraid of cholera - there had been many deaths by the dreaded disease. Doctors tried all sorts of measures to cut down on the epidemic, to no avail. Then, a doctor named John Snow had a unique idea - draw a map. He began to map out the incidences of death. That simple act revealed a stunning bit of information. Amazingly, the spread of the disease centered around one water pump. Dr. Snow had found the source of the poison, and when people stopped drinking out of that pump, it was instrumental in stopping the epidemic. Two research groups have recently begun projects to trace certain kinds of cancer the same way - find the geographic source of the disease, and maybe we can stop some deaths.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 February 2007 )
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Written by Everett J. Bassett
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Sunday, 23 April 2006 |
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Haggai 1: 2-10 This morning's sermon is going to be somewhat different from most sermons I preach here - I'm going to talk about our church. That's a strange thing to say, because I'm sure I say a lot about our church in sermons. But rarely, if ever, have I preached a sermon about the church, simply for the sake of the church itself. I might preach about a Bible story, or a spiritual teaching for our lives, and apply it to our life together here as the church - but today the topic is Cicero United Methodist Church, and why I think it is so important for our ministry here to flourish and grow. I want to talk about our church and our community, our church and our Conference, and our church and us. As I begin, would you join me in saying our Church Mission statement: The Cicero United Methodist Church is a caring Body of Christ, open to all, working together to discover, teach, and carry out God's will. |
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Searching For What You Already Have |
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Written by Everett J. Bassett
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Sunday, 16 April 2006 |
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Mark 16: 1-8
Some years ago, I attended a course on world religions taught by a person of the Sikh faith. Every class was interesting - he covered Buddhism, and Judaism, and Taoism, and so on. I was very interested ill how he would approach the Christian faith. I give him credit for even trying, with several Christians in the room. He taught about Jesus' miracles, teachings, the Golden Rule, the Prodigal Son story, and the healings. He taught about Jesus giving his life on the cross, and Christians believing that this was for the forgiveness of sins. When it was over, everybody, Christians and non-Christians alike, seemed very satisfied with the class.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 February 2007 )
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Written by Everett J. Bassett
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Sunday, 09 April 2006 |
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Mark 14: 1-11
I never quite know what to feel about Palm Sunday. My first impulse is to feel joy. It is, after all, a party; and everybody loves a party. The way the scriptures describe it, and the way the church has celebrated it for centuries, singing and dancing and shouting and waving decorative palm branches are in order. We Christians like to recall any moment when Jesus was lifted up, because heaven knows we see plenty of occasions in the Bible story when he was criticized, challenged, and plotted against. Here he was, riding into town like the winning team in the World Series returning to its home city to a ticker tape parade. We shout Hosanna on Palm Sunday.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 February 2007 )
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